Rich Thau

Member, Advisory Council
Rich Thau headshot 2025

Rich Thau is the president of Engagious, a firm specializing in public policy message testing and refinement, mainly for major trade associations and advocacy organizations. He helps his clients determine what to say—and not say—and why, based upon focus group dial test research. 

Rich is also the creator of the Swing Voter Project, conducted in partnership with NPR. Since 2019 he has moderated monthly focus groups with voters who flipped from Obama ’12-to-Trump ’16 (2019-20), Trump ‘16-to-Biden ’20 (2021-24), or Biden ’20-to-Trump ‘24 (2025-Present). 

Separately he conducts quarterly focus groups for NBC News with various key voter segments as part of its "Deciders" project. 

Rich is a graduate of Haverford College with a B.A. in history.

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